Bulls and Dwyane Wade reportedly agree to buyout

Posted by
Inside Hoops

Sep
25

The Bulls aren’t what they were. Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo are gone. The team won’t be a contender in 2017-18. So why would Dwyane Wade, as his NBA career winds down, want to stick around? And why would the Bulls, clearly now in a rebuilding period, still need him? As has been expected, the two sides will part ways. Here’s the Chicago Tribune reporting:

Three months after trading Jimmy Butler and waiving Rajon Rondo, the Bulls reached agreement on a buyout with Dwyane Wade on Sunday night, the eve of training camp. A source said Wade gave up roughly $8 million to $9 million of the $23.8 million he stood to make after picking up his player option on June 20, two days before the Butler deal.

The move clears the way for Wade to sign with a contender like the Cavaliers, Thunder or Spurs or possibly return to his beloved Heat. More importantly, it allows the Bulls to start fresh with their full rebuild and eliminate a potential distraction since Wade preferred to play for his fourth championship at this stage of his career.

“I just felt it was time for me, turning 36, that I want to be competing for a championship,” Wade told the Tribune in a phone interview. “I said when I got here, it was always a dream for me to play here. And getting that opportunity was special. And I can’t even say it wasn’t what everyone expected because we went to the playoffs. And trying to restore this franchise to respectability was our goal. The organization decided to go in a different direction, which I respect.”